X x x - - x x x



(No Model.)

0. P. JOHNSON.

00W OATGHER FOB LOGOMOTIVES.

Patented Feb. 7,1882,

h h e m f jlfioriw N. PETERS, FhnlD-Lilhogmphur. wzuhingwn. D. c,

Nrrnn STATES" PATENT OFFICE.

'OLOF P. JOHNSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

COW-CATCHER FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 253,208, dated February 7, 1882.

Application filed October 15, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLOF PETER JOHNSON, of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented an Improved Cow-Catcher for Locomotives, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved device to be applied to the so-called cow-catcher or buffalo-plow of a locomotive for more effectually removing from the track minor obstacles which might otherwise get'between the rails an d the wheels, and cause serious accidents by throwing the locomotive off the track.

In the accompanying drawings, Figurel represents a top or plan view ofmy improved cowcatcher. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same, taken through the line or or ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail end view, in the direction of the arrow, seen from the section-line 3 y of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows a modification.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures.

A designates the fore part of a locomotiveframe or of the front truck of a locomotive, to which the improvement may be attached.

B is a strong iron frame or bracket for securing the cow-catcher to the frame A.

G is the central rib of the cow-catcher, and is rounded off and widened at the point, as shown in Fig. 1, to form a bearing on each side at c, for receiving one end of a horizontal shaft,

D, whose other end is mounted in a bearing, a, upon the lower outer end of a downward and outward projecting portion b, of the iron frame B. The shafts D form about the same angle with each other as do the two lowest opposite ribs of the ordinary cow-catcher, and are pro- I vided longitudinally with radially-projecting vanes d, preferably four in number, and a cogwheel, E, whose outside radius should not exceed that of the vanes (I.

In the lower end of the frame portion 1), and in a bracket, F, projecting rearward a little from the under side of the plow-poin t, are laterally opposite respective bearings 6 eff, in which are mounted shafts G.

Upon each of the shafts G are secured cogwheels H l, the wheel H gearing with the wheel E upon the shaft D, and the wheel I gearing with a cog-wheel, J, upon a shaft, K,

which is mounted in the frame A, parallel with the driving-axle of the locomotive, from which axle it receives its motion through belt and pulley M L or other suitable means of transmission. If the wheel I, gearing into the wheel J, were fixed on the rear end of the shaft D, as in track-clearers heretofore constructed, (see Patent No. 38,622,) the angle between the two shafts D would necessarily be more acute with the same length of vanes, and the rear end of the cow catcher narrower than the frame; but by the intervention of the shafts G and their cog-wheels H, gearinginto wheels E upon the shaft D, as described, the cowcatcher may be made of any width or obtuseness of angle desired without extending the axle K beyond the frame A-that is to say, the width of the rear end of the catcher may be made greater than the width of the locomotive-frame, as shown in Fig. l, regardless of the length of the axle K. If A-be the forward truck-frame, K should be the forward truckaxle, from which, in that case, motion is taken to the shafts G director without an intermediate shaft. The shafts D, with vanes d on them, being thus revolved by power from the locomotive-wheels, will of course turn more or less rapidly, according to the proportion in size of gear-wheels and to the speed of the locomotive. Any minor obstacle struck by the cow-catcher during the progress of the locomotive will be caught by the rapidly-revolving vanes d and thrown off from the track in the direction of the tangent of revolution of the vanes. If the shafts D be placed at an angle of ninety degrees and the vanes on one shaft be extended to the circumference of the vanes of the other, as shown-in Fig. 4, the point of the cow-catcher may be formed by the ends of the thus extended vanes, the latter of course in that case being cut away down to the shafts D, at a distance from their front ends, preferably at the side of the cog-wheels E, to expose a small portion of the shafts, just sufficient for mounting them in bearings projecting from the bracket F.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination of the axle or shaft K, having cog-wheels J, and the converging shafts D, provided longitudinally with radial vanes d, and having cog-wheels E, not exceeding in diameter the side vanes, with the intermediate shaft G, provided with cog-wheels I H, gearing into the said wheels J E, all constructed and operating as and for the purposes shown and described.

2. The combination of the two shafts D, provided longitudinally with radial vanes (I, when a arranged as in Fig. 4, the vanes of one shaft 10 extending to the outer circumference of the vanes of the other and forming the point of the catcher.

()LOF PETER JOHNSON.

\Vitnesses A. W. ALMQVIST, '0. F. MALMnoRG. 

